Crystal Palace can now boast a World Cup winner for the first time after Yeremy Pino helped Spain reign supreme in the United States.
The Spaniard was one of 12 Crystal Palace players to take part in the World Cup this summer, with FIFA paying out a compensation package per player due to the risk of injury – The Athletic estimate the Eagles have made £2.3m after releasing 12 stars for the tournament.
Football finance expert Adam Williams has now elaborated on the situation when speaking to We are Palace – discussing how Pino’s World Cup win makes Crystal Palace a lot more attractive to sponsors among other topics.
Are you worried about our (lack of) transfer activity? 🤔
Exclusive: Light shed on how Yeremy Pino’s World Cup win could benefit the Eagles commercially
The Head of Football Finance and Governance Content at GRV Media said: “The Athletic’s analysis puts the figure Palace are due to get from FIFA at about £2m, which tracks pretty much in line with what we said here on We are Palace a few weeks ago after the Round of 32 stage.
| Rank | Club | Country | Estimated payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | England | $4.4m (£3.8m) |
| 2 | Barcelona | Spain | $3.9m (£3.3m) |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | Germany | $3.4m (£2.9m) |
| 4 | Arsenal | England | $3.3m (£2.8m) |
| 5 | Paris Saint-Germain | France | $3.2m (£2.7m) |
| 6 | Atletico Madrid | Spain | $3.2m (£2.7m) |
| 7 | Crystal Palace | England | $2.7m (£2.3m) |
| 8 | Manchester United | England | $2.6m (£2.2m) |
| 9 | Real Madrid | Spain | $2.6m (£2.2m) |
| 10 | Milan | Italy | $2.4m (£2m) |
“Again, it’s worth reiterating that, if Palace had 12 players at the tournament in 2022, they’d have got nearly double their final payout this time around. That’s because, while FIFA have increased the size of the pot, they are spreading themselves more thinly in terms of who they are distributing it to.
“In a sense, I think that’s good in that more money is being distributed to smaller clubs and member nations who don’t have the benefits of a £12bn TV deal like Crystal Palace. But the devil’s advocate position is that the system isn’t really commensurate with the risk that teams like Palace – whose average weekly wage is probably higher than £70,000 – are taking with releasing players for international duty.
“I can see it from both sides, to be honest. That’s the thing with Gianni Infantino’s expansionism. There are a lot of good things about it, it’s just executed and marketed in the wrong way.
“Ultimately, if you zoom out and look at the nuance, I don’t think Palace – or indeed pretty much any other team – can see themselves as anything other than net beneficiaries from the World Cup.
“Look at Yeremy Pino. They’ve now got a player they can market to sponsors as a World Cup winner. Another angle is that, without the World Cup, there would be a real risk of viewer fatigue with the relentless nature of the Premier League. Plus, I think every Premier League club will be delighted with the fact that football is marketing itself in the US, which is commercial mecca in sport. It’s a chance to increase your customer base. I know that’s a bizarre way for real, bedrock fans to look at it, but that’s how commercial departments think.
What would represent a positive season for Yeremy Pino in 2026/27? 🇪🇸
He needs to bag at least ten goals in my opinion… ⚽️
“Ultimately, I think stakeholders at domestic and international level would do well to look at the sport as a whole sometimes, rather than concentrating on their own little kingdom. That’s how the likes of the NFL do it, and that’s the most commercially lucrative sports league in the world. You just have to do it in a way that doesn’t lose sight of what football is really about and its inherent difference to American franchise sport.”
